Sun City takes second at softball tournament

For the second season in a row, Sun City Travel Softball Team, coached by Ross Glatzer and Ross Ewing, came in second to Charleston in its own Invitational tournament that included teams from Charleston, Clemson and Hilton Head Island.

Playing under sunny skies in the beautiful ball park in Sun City, the best senior softball players in South Carolina gathered to compete for the championship of the Sun City Invitational Tournament on Oct. 15 and 16.

Sun City distinguished itself in the first two games by defeating two of its traditional rivals, SHARE 19-14 and Clemson 25-10 before falling to Charleston 13-9 in the championship game.

In its first game against SHARE, outfielder Red Kopytko set the tone for Sun City by smashing a long, two-run homer over the score board to give Sun City an early 2-0 lead.

Then in the sixth inning, Sun City found itself tied with SHARE 14-14. SHARE had bases loaded and one out when a SHARE batter hit a hard ground ball back to Sun City pitcher Bob Lee who quickly threw to Catcher Craig Waite for the first out and Waite fired the ball to first baseman Dennis Jackson for an inning ending double play. SHARE did not score another run. Sun City went on to score five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break the tie and close SHARE out for a 19-14 victory. Sun City was lead by Red Kopytko and Don Feldkamp who each had a home run and drove in five RBIs between them. Winning pitcher Bob Lee also drove in three RBIs. Dave Sauer, Tom DaParma, Ken Abshier, Bill Wealleans, Dennis Jackson and Pete Bonanno each contributed at least two hits in helping Sun City to its first victory of the tournament.

In its second game, Sun City hammered Clemson 25-10, scoring the maximum number of runs allowed in the tournament each and every inning. Every Sun City batter had at least one hit led by shortstop Dean Waters, Don Feldkamp, Red Kopytko, Bob Lee and Bill Wealleans who all had three hits and drove in numerous runs for Sun City. First baseman Dennis Jackson added four RBIs. Dave Sauer. Tom DaParma and Doug Baker added two hits apiece and infielder Steve Parrish added a hit and scored several times as a pinch runner for Sun City. Winning pitcher Mark Lubowsky also added three hits and pitched a very strong game for the Sun City victory.

In the championship game, Dennis Jackson had four hits, Don Feldkamp, Ken Abshier, Tom DaParma, Dean Waters, Bill Wealleans, Dave Sauer and Pete Bonanno each had two hits. However, behind the strong pitching of Roy Buckheister Charleston prevailed by getting the last out in the seventh inning with two runners on base to thwart a comeback by Sun City. For the tournament Dave Sauer and Bill Wealleans led Sun City by generating 14 hits in 16 collective at bats and driving in a combined nine runs.

Sun City Coach Ross Glatzer said, “it was fun watching all the great players who competed. I was very proud of the Sun City Team as they were the dominant offensive team in the tournament. But we ran out of gas in the championship game against a great pitcher. We are proud of the fact we came in second, but we look forward to our next tournament to test ourselves against South Carolina’s best.”

Sun City renewed a longstanding rivalry with Clemson by splitting a doubleheader on Sunday winning the first game in a rout, 29-13 before dropping the second game 18-8. Mike Coriale, Tom DaParma, Dennis Jackson, Don Feldkamp, Red Kopytko, Bob Lee and Pete Bonanno all had three hits in the victory. Craig Waite added four hits and Ken Abshier knocked in six RBIs to lead Sun City. For this home and away series, Sun City won two out of three games played.

The Travel team is very appreciative of all the hard work our volunteers put in to make the tournament a success. Many thanks to Dom Alfieri and his brilliant field maintenance team who maintained the field. Also many thanks to Dave Sauer who coordinated the hot dog day, Dennis Jackson who coordinated all the umpires, Tom DaParma who coordinated the cookout for all the teams and Ron Donavon and Sue Kieny who worked the scoreboard and finally John Bryant who was the tournament’s official scorekeeper. And special thanks to announcers Glenn Ahlum, Carl Bolno and Red Kopytko.